As typical methods in disease treatments, surgical therapy, pharmaceutical therapy and radiation therapy can be exemplified. Although these methods are very effective for treatment it is required to take sufficient care also of complications or side effects caused in such treatment process. While medical technology in such disease treatments progresses, with respect to progress of environmental improvement in how patients can comfortably receive treatments, because there are few opportunities to obtain first-hand information of medical practice, problems remain.
As one example, clothing for a patient needing treatment can be raised. For progress of medical technology with respect to clothing for providing comfort to a patient during disease treatment or after treatment, progress is almost not found. Namely, as clothing for a patient requiring treatment worn at the time of the treatment, nightclothes or inner wear such as an underwear or a brassiere, which are generally sold, are frequently worn as usual. Although inner wears are brought into contact directly or indirectly with skin damaged with the above mentioned disease treatments, clothing for general use is not made into products particularly in consideration of medical hygiene or convenience and, therefore, sometimes they are disadvantageous for medical use. For example, in a sewing section, because fabric is sewn by a thread, it cannot be avoided to cause a linear projection, and only at a condition where this section touches an inflamed skin part, a scratching of the skin, a stimulation of the epidermis or the like is sometimes caused, and this section sometimes becomes a cause worsening inflammation. Further, for a part causing an inflammation on the skin or becoming fragile by a disease or a disease treatment, the affected part is frequently protected by being newly applied with a gauze or a lint, but clothing for general use, which can adequately hold such a medical material coated with a medicament, almost does not exist and, therefore, a patient is forced to experience high inconvenience.
Due to such a lack of clothing for the time during disease treatment, quality of cure or quality of life of a patient may be reduced by caused inflammation or rash of a wounded part after operation, or risk of infection, or further, discomfort of a patient and, as a result, sometimes a curative effect is also reduced.
For example, in breast cancer, its disease prevalence tends to increase year after year, and as treatments therefor, surgical therapy, pharmaceutical therapy such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy are effective treatments, and to suppress relapse of breast cancer, radiation therapy after a breast conserving surgery or mastectomy is greatly effective. However, because radiation induced dermatitis of an irradiated part is an inevitable side effect and it is caused relatively broadly, as a measure therefor, supportive dermatological therapy for a skin inflammation is performed together. The supportive dermatological therapy is performed mainly by applying a skin medication from the time during radiation therapy to a time of about two weeks after the radiation therapy. Concretely, although there are cases that an ointment or the like is applied to the epidermis of a treated part and it is covered with a medical material such as a gauze or a lint and it is fastened by a plaster, that it is wound with an elastic bandage from its outer side, or that a maternity brassiere is worn, in these manners there is a possibility of causing a sore or an itch of the skin. Further, there is also a possibility of soiling outer wear by leakage or seepage of a medicament or a skin infusion from an inflammation part. Thus, because inner wear suitable to protect the skin by holding an ointment does not exist, it is a great obstacle for medical practice.
Since it is not solved by simply combining existing general medical materials, as maternity brassieres, proposed are a maternity brassiere comprising a non-stretchable cup lining and a stretchable outer material (refer to Japanese Utility Model No. 2533290), a front opening maternity brassiere provided with a belt made from a high elastic raw material (refer to JP 3064936 B), a nursing brassiere exposable with left and right breasts at a condition being worn (refer to JP 4507574 B), a brassiere having a non-elastic chest supporting panel (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,437) and the like. However, in the brassieres described in Japanese Utility Model No. 2533290 and JP 3064936 B, because the cup part lining cloth or the strap part lining cloth are formed from a non-stretchable cloth or a cloth having a small elasticity, they tighten the breasts and the vicinity, thereby giving a great stimulus to the skin, and they obstruct wear comfort. Further, in the brassiere described in JP 4507574 B, because the left and right cup parts are configured at a form capable of exposing the breasts at a condition being worn and it has a holding portion capable of inserting mother's milk breast pads inside the left and right cup parts, seams are overlapped around the breast parts and a structure is formed wherein the difference in level between the pad and the holding portion causes a skin stimulation. Furthermore, in the brassiere described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,437, although it is a front opening brassiere made from a stretchable material, because it has a non-elastic chest supporting panel, there is no elongation in that part and there is a possibility of causing skin stimulation.
As described above, with respect to general medical materials and clothing such as brassieres worn at the time of woman's chest disease treatment, it is difficult to say that there exists clothing adequate for protection of an affected part and application for disease treatment and also providing wear comfort to a patient.
It could therefore be helpful to provide clothing improving such defects in the conventional technologies, having a comfortable texture and excellent in wear comfort.